Thursday - Learned a LOT about fibromyalgia last night at a meeting down in Canton. My wife has it, and the guy who spoke yesterday helped it make a LOT more sense. Now, if only I could help my gal feel better...

My wife has it as well. A constant struggle; both physically and with doctors who don’t know or understand it. Some don’t even care. I’m in the same boat as you, however... Wish there was something I could do to help.

My wife has it as well. A constant struggle; both physically and with doctors who don’t know or understand it. Some don’t even care. I’m in the same boat as you, however... Wish there was something I could do to help.

Hey, Jim. The guy who spoke is one Mark Pellegrino, who himself has FM and has made its study his specialty. He's a decent guy, as well as pretty damned knowledgeable, and if you can, it might be worth your while to get a hold of him to help your gal. He's heard the BS and has his share of Pet Peeves as it comes to the misconceptions regarding FM, so he does GET IT.

Hey, Jim. The guy who spoke is one Mark Pellegrino, who himself has FM and has made its study his specialty. He's a decent guy, as well as pretty damned knowledgeable, and if you can, it might be worth your while to get a hold of him to help your gal. He's heard the BS and has his share of Pet Peeves as it comes to the misconceptions regarding FM, so he does GET IT.

Friday - We have a light coating of snow on the ground from the weather system which went through here yesterday. Nothing serious, but 'tis the season, pretty obviously. I think I'm getting shut of my cold as well, which is good news.

We got 6-8 icy mix inches. Still blowing with bursts of snow. The system will blow through in the next hour and I'll go fire up the snow blower. Longing for one of those windshield enclosures as the wind will not be my friend.

The after picture doesn't reveal how heavy the snow was or the roof raking that brought more down on the drive and walk. I always cut a path around the house in the yard so the oil deliver guy can get to the tank pipe and so I have clear footing while walking around roof raking.

Happy to be in NW CT with new snow tires as NYC had an epic snow melt down with people stuck in traffic and on trains for hours, some not getting home until this morning. They got an unexpected early initial burst of snow that coated streets enough to catch out lots of motorists without snow tires. Salt/sand spreaders and plows were behind enough that they got uslessly stuck in traffic so there were many cranky commuters in the NY metropolitan area.

One of my gutter downspouts feeds into a buried PVC pipe that takes the water away from the house. Noticed during a recent rainstorm that pipe was blocked and the water was backing out of the connection at the base of the foundation, exactly where you don't want the water to be. Two days ago rented an electric auger to clear the blockage and the auger bit broke off somewhere in the pipe. (Roll eyes... Murphy's Law) Thought I'd have to wait until spring to fix it but was talking to the guy who does projects beyond my expertise and he noted the ground hasn't frozen yet so no reason something couldn't be done right away. He's coming over to look at it now as I just cleared snow off the ground over the pipes run. We're about 40F so hope springs eternal.

We put a rake handle up the pipe and found large pieces of gravel jamming it. We dug up the pipe and at the 10' connection point we pulled it apart and found the pipe completely filled with gravel... Even the pipe connectors leading from the downspout to the buried PVC pipe were full of dirt and gravel. The only scenario I could think of was a subcontractor who installed the pipe was pissed at the general contractor and loaded the pipe as a hidden FU to him. Ironically the gravel was big enough to allow water to pass through until eventually enough sediment and debris jammed it up and stopped all the flow of water.

Good news is both pieces of pipe were fine. We dumped them out, reconnected and re-buried the pipe and all is well. Learn something every day.

We put a rake handle up the pipe and found large pieces of gravel jamming it. We dug up the pipe and at the 10' connection point we pulled it apart and found the pipe completely filled with gravel... Even the pipe connectors leading from the downspout to the buried PVC pipe were full of dirt and gravel. The only scenario I could think of was a subcontractor who installed the pipe was pissed at the general contractor and loaded the pipe as a hidden FU to him. Ironically the gravel was big enough to allow water to pass through until eventually enough sediment and debris jammed it up and stopped all the flow of water.

Good news is both pieces of pipe were fine. We dumped them out, reconnected and re-buried the pipe and all is well. Learn something every day.

Glad you got it sorted before the ground froze. That brings a whole other set of problems.

If you look at the pic showing the downspout you see a short vertical run of pvc pipe that connects to a T connector on the ground that runs away from the house. The other side of that T connector goes about 6 inches under the stone deck. The base of that deck is gravel so I’ve adjusted my theory of vandalism to gravity. Perhaps over 9 years there have been enough gully washers to push gravel and dirt out and fill that pipe. Would not have suspected enough water flow was possible to do that but it’s also hard to imagine someone would have filled the pipe intentionally.

If you look at the pic showing the downspout you see a short vertical run of pvc pipe that connects to a T connector on the ground that runs away from the house. The other side of that T connector goes about 6 inches under the stone deck. The base of that deck is gravel so I’ve adjusted my theory of vandalism to gravity. Perhaps over 9 years there have been enough gully washers to push gravel and dirt out and fill that pipe. Would not have suspected enough water flow was possible to do that but it’s also hard to imagine someone would have filled the pipe intentionally.

Which prompts the question: Why only 6" under the deck? You couldn't expect all the water draining from under there to find one little PVC pipe way off in the corner, and downspouts generally don't need a breather tube to ensure steady flow. Seems odd.

Which prompts the question: Why only 6" under the deck? You couldn't expect all the water draining from under there to find one little PVC pipe way off in the corner, and downspouts generally don't need a breather tube to ensure steady flow. Seems odd.

Agreed. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men!? I’ll ask the general contractor but it was 9 years ago and not sure if he did it or had a sub.

Made it back safely from VT despite the storm. It took two hours just to get out of Burlington. But not for the reasons you might be thinking. The TL;DR version would be... Missed my exit because I was avoiding a traffic jam. turned out my exit WAS the traffic jam. After rerouting, ended up stuck in said traffic jam anyway. Had to turn around and reroute again. By the time I got to the ferry to NYS, it was exactly two hours from when I left the store. The whole trip to the ferry should have been about 20-30 minutes.

Everything was fine after that until I got to the vicinity of Canajoharie on the NYS Thruway (I-90). Traffic backed up and occasionally stopped for miles. Finally see construction signs, then right lane closed signs. Proceed to move to the left only to find that actual construction was well over for the day, and no lanes were closed. 20-30 minutes more of a delay that didn't need to be. That was followed by traffic slowing for two separate plows (both in the left lane) that people, for some unknown reason, seemed scared to pass by. Finally got past that, and had smooth sailing the rest of the way home. Keep in mind, other than on secondary roads in VT and NY, there was no snow at all on the highways. Crystal clear.

Anyway, to make the trip all that more exciting, I brought home a cold that reared its ugly head this morning. Most everyone at the store I was training in was in some stage of a cold. I thought I had survived unscathed. Apparently no. Oh well... At least I got to see my sister and her husband on the trip, and have some good food and drink. It wasn't all bad!

Probably came about as close as I ever will to impulsively buying a car on the spot earlier tonight. Struck up a convo earlier tonight with a couple driving an AP1 S2000, and as it turned out they were getting ready to sell it. It was really tough to say no because it was in great shape, but unfortunately I can't make the numbers work right now. Definitely on my list of cars to own though, hopefully my next car if I ever get tired of the A6 lol.

Not getting any house love. We've had one potential buyer through since listing it November 1st. Pretty sure the agent I hired is a dud. I chose him because he sold the house next door to me last spring in a day. Had to have been a fluke. When the house first listed on the MLS site (4 days later), it had a pathetic two-line write-up (which I re-wrote and sent to the agent) and the small pics didn't match the big pics when you clicked on them. And, unless I specifically ask for an update, I hear nothing. I've had more contact from the seller's agent where we placed an offer than I've had from my own.

As my BIL says, sounds like he is aggressively waiting for the phone to ring.

It certainly takes a type of personality to be an agent. I know I can't do it even if my life depended on it. I would lose my s**t after 5 minutes from I don't like the baseboard colour or the mirrors in the bathroom.

When we bought our current house, it took us less than a week from first seeing the place and final agreement. We saw it ourselves in an open house and asked the agent to see it next day, basically asked for his "opinion". He made $30,000 from one visit and a couple of phone calls, and that's not counting the sale of the old house. Agents counter argument would be all the time they spent with us before and their "expertise".

Sunday - OSU's win over Maryland was actually more Maryland's loss. They thought they had a sure-thing 2-point-conversion. They didn't. Watched Pacific Rim Uprising last night. Sadly, it was NOT an improvement on the original.

A white 2013 BMW X1 AWD with twin turbocharged 4 came up on our neighborhood website today from a contractor I know in our community. It has just short of 70,000 miles. Csaba Csere did a 17 minute YouTube review back in '13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqinOfudzY.

The car has been garaged and taken good care of its entire life. It has tire rack alloys with snow tires and the original BMW alloys with summer tires included.

I drove it and it was faster than I expected with the 8 speed transmission well mated to the power band of the turbos. It's nicely balanced and I'm drawn to its slightly smaller size and weight making it much more toss able.

After considering a couple of high mileage $2,000 AWD beaters I think this is a higher percentage choice in terms of reliability, longevity and driving enjoyment.

If my wife falls in love with it I might let her have it and find another salt car... Perhaps a used SQ5 :-)

Tuesday - The Chiefs - Rams game was INSANE, particularly the second half. I'm embarrassed to say that I quit not long into the 4th quarter, wanting to get some shut-eye, but WOW. That was a Donnybrook of the first water, for sure!

I've driven both and I agree with maarp that the A3 is a lot of fun because it's smaller and more athletic the way the old A4 was. The Q3 might be a better MIL car in that you sit up higher and they are easier to get in and out of. Also more capacity to carry stuff. The A will handle better than the Q but unless your MIL does regular track or autocross sessions she won't know the difference.

Wednesday - Nice coating of snow on the ground here. Not a lot doin' today. Tomorrow my gal and I go south for T-Day and see what her daughter-in-law has cooked up for us. Knowing her, it's liable to be VERY good!

Thursday - Turkey Day here in the US, and for the record, yeah, I DO have more than a few things to be thankful for ... among them the good guys I get to interact with on a daily basis here on Backfires. Molte grazie, gang.

My wife's iPad is nearly 5 years old, and getting slow, so I thought I'd check on-line and see if there any deals, even though Apple products never have more than a $20-30 discount. Holy crap, I found one at Best Buy for $150 off, and bought it immediately. Went back to the website 5 minutes later, and they were sold out. Timing is everything. Glad I didn't hesitate.

Saturday - Proud to say I was pretty useful yesterday. My wife's complaint about a tire pressure warning light on her Hyundai Sonata turned out to be a case of underinflated tires, which I corrected, and changed the batteries in both her keys for good measure. I also replaced the mechanism in the Andersen kitchen storm door, which was a new and rather fun process to sort out!

If you've been awaiting an update to my USPS/C&D magazine saga, here it is...

After almost a month, I finally received a response from the USPS that they received my missing mail request. They went on to say that, while they haven't yet located my missing mail, they will do everything they can to find it. Whatever that means. I've received the two issues since the missing one; quite late in the month, but I've gotten them nonetheless. I'll give them a little while longer just to see what shakes out. If I miss another, the postmaster will be contacted directly.

Came back from turkey day outside of Boston, with our daughter and family of future son in law, appropriately overfed. Third time we've done it so the least stressful yet. Took my wagon to his father's transmission shop to troubleshoot the problem I'd been experiencing that felt like a randomly stuck caliper when starting forward or reversing. After analysis it may have been a stuck caliper or perhaps proportioning valve as both rear disks and pads were much more warn than the fronts and my mechanic in NY had just serviced the brakes before it began happening. The other strange find was three of the six bolts connecting the driveshaft to the rear diff were missing nuts and two of the remaining nuts were loose. Disappointed my guy didn't find this obvious issue but the bolts are long and go in from front to back so even missing their nuts there is no danger they'll fall out... but still.

Yesterday the '13 X1 owner brought it by again so my wife could drive it. She liked it and we shook hands on a deal for the car and the extra wheels and snows with original alloys with summer rubber. It was on the low middle side of KBB price range and I'm happy as the owner and wife have used it since new, garaged it and maintained it regularly. The mechanic who has serviced it for them lives two doors down from me and also have my NY guy. Both are good options for service and repairs before considering a distant dealer. There is a bad brake wear sensor wire causing a dash light that he'll have fixed before I'll have an opportunity to spend more quality time at CT DMV. Should be the ideal salt car now that we're in CT more of the time.

Monday - Cue Gomer Pyle – "Surprise, surprise!" The Browns played some of the best ball I've seen them manage in entirely too long a time ... in the first half, yesterday. The second half wasn't so hot, but the defense held and yet one more notch goes into the "W" column.

I have to go to the eye doctor this morning. My right eye is swollen up. This happened for the first last May, and he told me it was an infection, most likely from an insect bite. Now, 6 months later, in the same eye again. We'll see (pun intended) what he says this time.

Thanks, Josh. Apparently not, just another infection to be dealt antibiotics. He has no answer why this happened again, only possibly it was stemming from my cold a week ago. Possible sinus/gland infection that manifests in my eyelid. Sounds like a pile o' crap, but hopefully this puts an end to it. If it comes back a third time, I'll find a new eye doctor.

I wonder how much patience the new Panthers owner has with the coaching staff. We started out 6-2, and were literally two plays away from being 8-0. Now we sit at 6-5, and will likely have to win out to make the playoffs this year following yesterday's last-second loss to the Seahawks. Seemingly every week, there are maybe 3 to 5 really questionable coaching decisions, as well as 5-7 mental errors by players, and every time it's "we'll address everything in practice."

It's been 12 weeks and apparently we're still addressing the same things every week. Wasting timeouts early in games because we can't figure out which play to run. Rushing only two (!!!!) defensive lineman while simultaneously not double-covering the best receiver in the league. Throwing long, contested passes on third/fourth downs when we need a yard. Missed field goals/extra points left and right all of a sudden. What the hell is going on. I can guarantee that if Belichick, McVay, or a handful of other coaches had the talent we have, we'd probably be undefeated right now, and as much as I like Rivera as a person, I think there's a reason why the Panthers have never had back-to-back winning seasons.

Newton and McCaffrey are probably having their best years, and it's all for nothing because we can't stop anyone on defense and our coaching staff is too scared to win a game. If we miss the playoffs this year, we need to clean house with the possible exception of our OC, who for the most part has been a HUGE upgrade from Shula.